Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, committee members, for the opportunity to appear today.
The Canadian Produce Marketing Association represents over 900 companies across Canada in the fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain, representing and responsible for over 90% of the fresh fruit and vegetable sales across the country, from farm gate to dinner plate. We appreciate the committee's examining of food price inflation alongside the national school food program, because these issues are closely connected.
Canadians need access to affordable, nutritious food. At the same time, the businesses responsible for growing and moving that food are operating in an increasingly challenging cost environment. Fresh produce is unique. It is highly perishable, frequently travels significant distances, requires specialized handling and refrigeration and flows within an integrated North American and global supply chain.
That means the costs associated with labour, transportation, fuel, packaging, energy, regulatory compliance and infrastructure can ultimately influence the cost of putting fruit and vegetables on the tables of Canadians. Our message to the committee is that food affordability policy must therefore look at the entire supply chain.
At the same time that our sector faces geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain disruptions and escalating severe weather events, we know that many Canadians are struggling with the cost of food. CPMA's consumer research on price perception has found that the steeper price spikes reported two to three years ago have given way to a feeling of a steady creep upwards. In the third quarter of this year, 8 in 10 Canadians reported seeing produce prices increase over last year.
Families simply cannot defer purchasing nutritious foods—unlike many consumer goods—when prices increase. They are adapting by visiting more discount stores and purchasing more shelf-stable frozen and canned fresh fruit and vegetables. If government wants to sustainably reduce pressure on food prices and enable the effective school food program, we need to examine the cumulative costs of bringing food from farms and distributing them to the consumer network while maintaining Canada's food safety, environmental and labour standards.
We should also be looking at the food distribution infrastructure. We believe that a resilient food terminal, food hub and efficient transportation corridor model, with modern distribution systems, should be considered as part of Canada's food infrastructure. Strengthening that infrastructure can improve resiliency and help reduce uncertainty in costs and disruption through the system. Food affordability is a whole- of-supply-chain issue and, increasingly, a food security issue.
I'll turn it over to my colleague, Sue Lewis, to talk to children's healthy eating and the school food program.